In Quebec, 73.7% have had Covid
By testing blood donations, McGill researcher Timothy Evans discovered that 73.7% of Quebec donors have caught Covid, the highest rate among Canadian provinces. The results show that younger people have caught a lot more Covid, even though the study couldn’t assess the rate among people under 18 because you can’t give blood till then.
Ephraim 10:28 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
Sorry, correction “… that young DONORS caught….” Remember that the set of donors and the set of Quebecois are different, even though a significant part of the Venn diagram overlaps. To see who can donate, go to https://www.hema-quebec.qc.ca/sang/donneur-sang/puis-je-donner/index.en.html
While MSM are now allowed in some cases, people often don’t know that anyone who spent more than 3 months in the UK or France between 1980 and 1996 are banned from donating blood in Quebec (Creutzfeldt-Jakob, and there are other criteria for Europe and Saudi Arabia). People who have had malaria are permanently banned (but can donate plasma) etc.
Kate 11:07 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
I know that one regular reader of this blog is not allowed, since he’s from Europe, and I’ve a friend who spent more time than that in the UK, so she can’t either.
Is MSM “men who have sex with men”?
I gave blood in the summer for the first time in many years, but I think I’ll make a point now of going as often as I can, since so many people are disqualified.
Tee Owe 11:19 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
I am one of those banned due to living (and eating beef) in the UK early ’80s. I know that blood donors are particularly motivated, altruistic people but I think their susceptibility to Covid19 is no different to anyone else so data from this group are indeed representative of the general population – Dr Evans’ study is meaningful and useful
Ephraim 12:04 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
Yes MSM is Men who have Sex with Men. And it’s no longer a forbidden group… but there are caveats… like you can be in a polyamorous exclusive relationship and be excluded.
dhomas 16:47 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
I thought MSM stood for “MainStream Media”.
Ephraim 20:51 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
Better tell the CDC… https://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment-guidelines/msm.htm
dhomas 08:43 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
Better tell the dictionary…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MSM
carswell 10:28 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
Point taken, dhomas. But major dictionaries are notoriously slow to embrace new usages and have to deal with homophobia — internal in some cases but also external, as in there are probably school districts and public libraries in the US that would ban Webster’s if it mentioned man-on-man sex. Webster’s even treats the issue of same-sex marriage, the law of the land, with kid gloves, including a usage note that proclaims it “highly controversial” and only mentioning the phrase in connection with Obergefell v. Hodges.
jeather 11:01 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
I’ve had this issue with the two known to me uses of FTM and of CBT. Both are at least usually distinguishable by context
Blork 11:07 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
There’s no law that says a TLA (three-letter acronym) must have only one definition. To wit: CIA = Central Intelligence Agency and CIA = Culinary Institute of America.
And there is no “the” dictionary. There are MANY dictionaries in any language, and they don’t all agree.
dhomas 14:37 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
I know there’s no law about TLAs and no “the” dictionary. I was just cheekily reusing the same sentence structure from the reply above mine. And my previous comment was more about sharing that I learned a new meaning for this acronym, as I was only aware of one beforehand.